Kukla's Korner Hockey

So why so much smoke, if there's no fire? Put it this way: The Panthers may not trade Luongo, but there's a logical reason why they would (and maybe even should) consider it.
Luongo's contract, awarded by an arbitrator, for $3.2 million is up at the end of this year. Luongo was one of the few NHL players who filed for arbitration that actually went through with the process — and no one took it on the chin worse than he did.
Accordingly, if the Panthers are getting any kind of signals at all from Luongo that he is not prepared to sign with them long-term, then his trade value will never be higher than it is right now. Every day he gets closer to unrestricted free agency (July 1, 2007) is another day that his value on the open market diminishes.